Modern Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) can accommodate complex system-on-chip designs and require extensive intellectual-property (IP) support. However, current IP protection mechanisms in FPGAs are limited, and do not reach beyond whole-design bitstream encryption. This work presents an architecture and protocol for securing IP based designs in programmable platforms. The architecture is reprsented by the Secure Authentication Module (SAM), an enabler for next-generation intellectual-property exchange in complex FPGAs. SAM protects hardware, software, application data, and also provides mutual assurances for the end-user and the intellectual-property developer. Further, this work demonstrates the use of SAM in a secure video messaging device on top of a Virtex-II Pro development system. / Master of Science

Teachers have the responsibility of managing the behavior in their classrooms. The positive effects of evidence-based classroom management methods, like Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT), have been generalized to a variety of classroom settings, among a range of ages and types of classes; however, the literature on its efficacy in special education classrooms is scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of CW-FIT in special education classrooms at a middle school. Two teachers of eighth grade special education math classes chose to participate in the study. One teacher alternated between using an audible and inaudible timer, and the other teacher used variations of CW-FIT with a self-management component. Results showed an increase in student on-task behavior and in teacher praise-to-reprimand ratios. There was not a significant difference in student on-task behavior nor teacher praise-to-reprimand ratios between CW-FIT conditions with an audible versus inaudible timer; there was not a significant difference between CW-FIT conditions and self-management conditions. Both teachers and most students indicated that they found the intervention to be socially valid. Further research into the efficacy of CW-FIT in special education classrooms is recommended.

Solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere (SW-M-I) coupling is investigated with three different computational models that characterize space plasma dynamics on distinct spatial/temporal scales. These models are used to explore three important aspects of SW-M-I coupling. A particle-in-cell (PIC) model has been developed to explore the kinetic scale dynamics associated with the magnetotail dipolarization front (DF), which is generated as a result of magnetotail reconnection. The PIC study demonstrates that the electron-ion hybrid (EIH) instability could relax the velocity shear within the DF via emitting lower hybrid waves. The velocity inhomogeneity driven instability is highlighted as an important mechanism for energy conversion and wave emission during the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling, which has been long neglected before. The Lyon-Fedder-Mobbary (LFM) global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model is used to explore the fluid scale electrodynamic response of the magnetosphere-ionosphere to the interplanetary electric field (IEF). It is found that the cross polar cap potential (CPCP) varies linearly with very large IEF if the solar wind density is high enough. With controlled experiments of global MHD modeling driven by observed parameters, the linearity was interpreted as a result of the magnetosheath force balance theory. This study highlights the role of solar wind density in the electrodynamic SW-M-I coupling under extreme driving conditions. The LFM-TIEGCM-RCM (LTR) model, which is the Coupled-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere (CMIT) model with Ring Current extension, is used to explore the integrated SW-M-I system. The LTR simulation study focuses on the subauroral polarization streams (SAPS), which involve both MHD and non-MHD processes and three-way coupling in the SW-M-I system. The global structure and dynamic evolution of SAPS are illustrated with state-of-the-art first-principle models for the first time. This study has successfully utilized multiscale models to characterize the forefront issues in the space plasma dynamics, which is required by the facts that plasmas have both particle and fluid featured properties and those properties are vastly different across geospace regions. It is highlighted that SW-M-I coupling could be significantly influenced by both microscopic and macroscopic processes. In order for a comprehensive understanding of the SW-M-I coupling, multiscale models and integrated framework of their combinations are critical. / Doctor of Philosophy / Three numerical models are used to explore the processes occurring in the Earth’s space environment from an altitude of ∼ 100 km to 10s Earth radii (R_E). This environment is mainly filled with plasma, the gaseous state of charged particles that collectively behave like a fluid and are also subject to complex electromagnetic interactions. The intrinsic features of plasma determine that the physics on the scale of charged particles and that on the scale of fluids are both very important. On the other hand, considering the vast differences in the plasma properties throughout space, different regions need to be represented by different physically-based models. This dissertation study addresses the processes on three distinct spatial/temporal scales with different models. A particle model that treats plasma as a group of charged particles is used to explore wave generation in the magnetotail (10s R_E in the nightside). It is found that inhomogeneous plasma flow in the sharp boundary layer at the magnetotail (called “dipolarization front”) can excite plasma waves to dissipate the energy originating from the solar wind (high speed plasma ejected from the sun). A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that treats the plasma as a magnetized fluid is used to explore the efficiency of electric field mapping from the solar wind (10s R_E) to the ionosphere (∼ 100 km altitude). The electric field in the ionosphere usually linearly increases with solar wind electric field until it is too strong. An observational event showed that their relationship remains linear for very large driving field. MHD modeling experiments demonstrate that the linearity at large driving field is due to the high solar wind density, which is explained with force balance theory. An integrated model framework is used to explore the system level response of geospace by investigating the enhanced plasma flow in the subauroral ionosphere (called the subauroral polarization streams, SAPS). The generation of SAPS involves driving and feedback processes in different regions (magnetosphere, ring current, ionosphere) that can not be simulated with any individual model. The global structures and dynamic evolution of SAPS have never been explored before with first-principle characterization of the effects from the solar wind to geospace. This integrated modeling represents a state-of-the-art model framework to explore processes in coupled geospace. These studies illustrate that different models are necessary to explore fundamental physics on small and large scales and the coupling processes between different space regions. It is also suggested that incorporating the different models into an integrated framework is necessary to get a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics in geospace.

Este trabalho trata da caracterização regional entre as drenagens dos rios Paraíba do Sul e Tietê, associada ao processo de captura fluvial, situado entre os municípios de Guararema e Mogi das Cruzes, no Estado de São Paulo. Parte-se da hipótese de processo de captura fluvial no médio curso do Paraíba do Sul e formação do cotovelo de Guararema, o que caracteriza essa anomalia como uma das mais interessantes do planeta Terra. É comum na região o padrão dendrítico e adensamento de drenagens cortados por falhas e fraturas de diversas idades. O embasamento é composto de estruturas cristalinas recobertas por pacotes sedimentares do Terciário e Quaternário. No Graben do Paraíba, superfície alongada e rebaixada entre as Serras do Mar e Mantiqueira, a forte declividade favorece o processo erosivo. A área caracterizada por esses dois importantes rios do território brasileiro é parte integrante do Sistema de Bacias Tafrogênicas do Rift Continental do Sudeste do Brasil (RCSB), a qual foi afetada por falhas NE-SW de grande expressão regional, e o processo de captura seria o responsável pela atual configuração da rede de drenagem. A reativação e movimento de blocos regionais dos períodos Mesozóico e Cenozóico inverteu a direção do Rio Paraíba do Sul em seu setor central, que no passado tributava suas águas no Rio Tietê. Como consequência desse reajustamento regional, alguns dos seus tributários teriam rompido os divisores de água que o separavam das cabeceiras do Tietê e capturado parte de suas drenagens através de processo de recuo de regressivo. O que comprova a captura é a localização do vale seco, feição que pode indicar a antiga ligação entre os dois rios, que foi identificada na área desta pesquisa por meio de análise de cartas, mapas, perfis e fotointerpretação. Devido ao elevado poder erosivo no setor do médio vale do Rio Paraíba, novas capturas podem estar em processo de evolução. / This work deals with the characterization regional drainages between the rivers Tietê and Paraíba do Sul, associated with the capture process river, located between the cities of Guararema and Mogi das Cruzes, State of São Paulo. It starts with the hypothesis capture process in middle course of river Paraíba do Sul and training elbow Guararema what characterizes this anomaly as one of the most interesting of the planet Earth. It is common in the region and the dendritic pattern of drainage densification cut by faults and fractures of various ages. The basement consists of crystalline structures covered by sedimentary packages Tertiary and Quaternary. The Graben Paraíba, elongated surface and lowered between the Serra do Mar and Mantiqueira, the strong declivity favors the erosion process. The area is characterized by these two important rivers of the Brazilian territory is part of the Watershed System Tafrogênicas Continental Rift of Southeastern Brazil (RCSB), which was affected by NE-SW faults of great regional expression, and the capture process would be responsible for the present configuration of the drainage network. The reactivation and movement of regional blocks of Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods inverted the direction of the Paraíba do Sul River in its central section, which in the past taxed waters in Rio Tietê. As a result of this regional readjustment, some of its tributaries have broken the watershed that separated him the headwaters of the Tietê and captured part of its drainage through the process of regressive retreat. This proves the catch is the location of the valley dry feature that may indicate the ancient link between the two rivers, which was identified in this research area through the analysis of charts, maps, profiles and photo interpretation. Due to the high erosive power sector in the middle valley of the River Paraíba, new catch may be in the process of evolution.

L'objectif de ces travaux de recherche est l'étude et le développement d'un système ICM embarqué en utilisant la méthodologie de conception conjointe afin de satisfaire ses contraintes spécifiques. Il en a découlé la constitution d'un système ICM complet intégrant un système d'acquisition OpenBCI et un système de traitement à base de FPGA. Ce système pourrait être utilisé dans des contextes variés : médicale (pour les diagnostiques précoces des pathologies), technologique (informatique ubiquitaire), industriel (communication avec des robots), ludique (contrôler un joystick dans les jeux vidéo), etc. Dans notre contexte d’étude, la plateforme ICM proposée a été réalisée pour assister les personnes à mobilité réduite à commander les équipements domestiques. Nous nous sommes intéressés en particulier à l'étude et à l'implémentation des modules de filtrage adaptatif et dynamique, sous forme d'un coprocesseur codé en HDL afin de réduire son temps d'exécution car c'est le bloc le plus critique de la chaine ICM. Quant aux algorithmes d'extraction des caractéristiques et de classification, ils sont exécutés par le processeur Nios-II sous son système d'exploitation en ANSI-C. Le temps de traitement d'un trial par notre système ICM réalisé est de l'ordre de 0.4 s/trial et sa consommation ne dépasse guère 0.7 W. / The main purpose of this thesis is to study and develop an embedded brain computer interface (BCI) system using HW/SW methodology in order to satisfy the system specifications. A complete BCI system integrated in an acquisition system (OpenBCI) and a hardware platform based on the FPGA were achieved. The proposed system can be used in a variety of contexts: medical (for early diagnosis of pathologies, assisting people with severe disabilities to control home devices system through thought), technological (ubiquitous computing), industrial (communication with Robots), games (control a joystick in video games), etc. In our study, the proposed ICM platform was designed to control home devices through the thought of people with severe disabilities. A particular attention has been given to the study and implementation of the filtering module, adaptive and dynamic filtering, in the form of a coprocessor coded in HDL in order to reduce its execution time as it is the critical block in the returned ICM algorithms. For the feature extraction and classification algorithms, they are executed in the Nios-II processor using ANSI-C language. The prototype operates at 200 MHz and performs a real time classification with an execution delay of 0.4 second per trial. The power consumption of the proposed system is about 0.7 W.

La estimación y verificación de las prestaciones de los diseños de sistemas embebidos de la forma más rápida posible al principio del proceso de diseño es un hito de gran importancia. Por ello, esta tesis propone una nueva solución basada en simulación por anotación de código fuente, que a costa de algo de precisión, permite realizar simulaciones muy rápidas con un mínimo esfuerzo de diseño. La primera tarea realizada en esta tesis ha sido extender el lenguaje SystemC para incluir primitivas de un sistema operativo de tiempo real(RTOS) que permiten la ejecución y el refinado de módulos software. La segunda parte de la tesis se ha centrado en la generación de una librería capaz de obtener datos dinámicamente sobre las prestaciones temporales de dichos sistemas a partir del código fuente, para poder verificar el cumplimiento de las características requeridas. Junto con los elementos SW se han desarrollado componentes SystemC de alto nivel capaces de modelar los elementos principales de un sistema embebido, como buses, memorias, redes de comunicaciones, etc. Por último se han desarrollado los componentes necesarios para poder incluir toda esta infraestructura en procesos de exploración automática del proceso de diseño, de forma que en base a descripciones iniciales del sistema en formato XML. La infraestructura de simulación y estimación de rendimiento ha sido desarrollada y probada en diversos proyectos europeos. / Estimating and verifying system performance of embedded designs at the beginning of the design process is a very important task. Fast estimation tools are required in order to evaluate different design possibilities, such as HW/SW partitioning or resource allocation, to verify the fulfillment of the system constraints, or to support design space exploration flows. In this context, the thesis proposes a tool capable of simulating embedded systems using source code annotation. As a consequence, fast estimations are obtained with minimal design effort, obtaining an adequate accuracy. For developing such tool several tasks has been performed. First, the SystemC language has been extended to provide the designer with a model of a real-time operating system. This model enables the correct simulation, scheduling and debugging of embedded SW. The second element added is an infrastructure capable of estimating and annotating performance information for each basic block in the source code. This infrastructure enables obtaining timed simulations of the SW. Additionally generic TLM elements have been developed to enable creating models of the HW platforms. Finally, additional components has been developed to use the proposed tool in a complete Design Space Exploration flow. The simulation infrastructure has been developed and checked in several European projects, and in collaboration with private companies.

This thesis focuses on the competition analysis of Zeelandia on the Czech market. In the literature review are indicated problems related to situational analysis, competition, competition analysis, SWOT analysis, SW analysis and Porter's five forces model. The practical part is composed of a list of competitors, compare financial indicators, determination of market shares, SW analysis with valuation, identification of key strengths and weaknesses and the subsequent overall evaluation.

This thesis focuses on the development opportunities based on the analysis of OfficeCare the Czech market. The literature review was described problems related to situation analysis, competition, competitive analysis, SWOT analysis and Porter's five competitive forces model. In the practical part, a list of competitors, software analysis with scoring, identification of key strengths and weaknesses and the subsequent overall evaluation.

Este trabalho trata da caracterização regional entre as drenagens dos rios Paraíba do Sul e Tietê, associada ao processo de captura fluvial, situado entre os municípios de Guararema e Mogi das Cruzes, no Estado de São Paulo. Parte-se da hipótese de processo de captura fluvial no médio curso do Paraíba do Sul e formação do cotovelo de Guararema, o que caracteriza essa anomalia como uma das mais interessantes do planeta Terra. É comum na região o padrão dendrítico e adensamento de drenagens cortados por falhas e fraturas de diversas idades. O embasamento é composto de estruturas cristalinas recobertas por pacotes sedimentares do Terciário e Quaternário. No Graben do Paraíba, superfície alongada e rebaixada entre as Serras do Mar e Mantiqueira, a forte declividade favorece o processo erosivo. A área caracterizada por esses dois importantes rios do território brasileiro é parte integrante do Sistema de Bacias Tafrogênicas do Rift Continental do Sudeste do Brasil (RCSB), a qual foi afetada por falhas NE-SW de grande expressão regional, e o processo de captura seria o responsável pela atual configuração da rede de drenagem. A reativação e movimento de blocos regionais dos períodos Mesozóico e Cenozóico inverteu a direção do Rio Paraíba do Sul em seu setor central, que no passado tributava suas águas no Rio Tietê. Como consequência desse reajustamento regional, alguns dos seus tributários teriam rompido os divisores de água que o separavam das cabeceiras do Tietê e capturado parte de suas drenagens através de processo de recuo de regressivo. O que comprova a captura é a localização do vale seco, feição que pode indicar a antiga ligação entre os dois rios, que foi identificada na área desta pesquisa por meio de análise de cartas, mapas, perfis e fotointerpretação. Devido ao elevado poder erosivo no setor do médio vale do Rio Paraíba, novas capturas podem estar em processo de evolução. / This work deals with the characterization regional drainages between the rivers Tietê and Paraíba do Sul, associated with the capture process river, located between the cities of Guararema and Mogi das Cruzes, State of São Paulo. It starts with the hypothesis capture process in middle course of river Paraíba do Sul and training elbow Guararema what characterizes this anomaly as one of the most interesting of the planet Earth. It is common in the region and the dendritic pattern of drainage densification cut by faults and fractures of various ages. The basement consists of crystalline structures covered by sedimentary packages Tertiary and Quaternary. The Graben Paraíba, elongated surface and lowered between the Serra do Mar and Mantiqueira, the strong declivity favors the erosion process. The area is characterized by these two important rivers of the Brazilian territory is part of the Watershed System Tafrogênicas Continental Rift of Southeastern Brazil (RCSB), which was affected by NE-SW faults of great regional expression, and the capture process would be responsible for the present configuration of the drainage network. The reactivation and movement of regional blocks of Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods inverted the direction of the Paraíba do Sul River in its central section, which in the past taxed waters in Rio Tietê. As a result of this regional readjustment, some of its tributaries have broken the watershed that separated him the headwaters of the Tietê and captured part of its drainage through the process of regressive retreat. This proves the catch is the location of the valley dry feature that may indicate the ancient link between the two rivers, which was identified in this research area through the analysis of charts, maps, profiles and photo interpretation. Due to the high erosive power sector in the middle valley of the River Paraíba, new catch may be in the process of evolution.

La contribution de cette thèse concerne le développement et la conception d’un système multimédia embarqué basé sur l’approche de conception conjointe matérielle/logicielle (codesign). Il en résulte ainsi la constitution d’une bibliothèque de modules IP (Intellectual Property) pour les applications vidéo. Dans ce contexte, une plateforme matérielle de validation a été réalisée servant au préalable à l’évaluation de l’approche de conception en codesign pour l’étude d’algorithmes de traitement vidéo. Nous nous sommes ainsi intéressés en particulier à l’étude et à l’implantation de la norme de décompression vidéo H.264/AVC. Pour la validation fonctionnelle, l’ensemble du développement a été réalisé autour d’une carte Xilinx à base d’un circuit programmable FPGA Xilinx Virtex-5en mettant en œuvre le processeur hardcore PowerPC du circuit programmable dans l’environnement logiciel Linux pour l’embarqué. Le décodeur H.264/AVC ainsi développé comporte différents accélérateurs matériels pour la transformation inverse ainsi que le filtre anti-blocs. Nous avons pu tester les performances au regard du respect des contraintes temporelles en intégrant une extension temps réel à la plateforme de validation suivant différentes conditions de stress du système. L’extension temps réel Xenomai fournit ainsi une réponse adéquate aux problématiques de charge du système et de maîtrise des contraintes temporelles inhérentes à tout système de traitement vidéo tout en autorisant aussi l’utilisation d’applications classiques mises en œuvre dans l’environnement standard Linux embarqué. / The main contribution of this thesis concerns the development and the design of an embedded system for multimedia based on the codesign approach (HW/SW). Towards this end, a library off lexible IP cores (Intellectual Property) for video applications was created. In this context, a hardware platform was used for evaluation of the codesign-based approach in order to study video processingalgorithms. Thus, we particularly focused on the study and the implementation of H.264/AVC decoder. For functional validation, the entire development was carried out around a FPGA Virtex-5 Xilinx board embedding a hardcore PowerPC processor running embedded Linux operating system. The H.264/AVC developed decoder consists of hardware accelerators for the inverse transformation and the deblocking filter. We evaluated the performances in terms of respect of temporal constraints by integrating a real-time extension to the validation platform under different stress conditions. The Xenomai real-time extension has proven its high performance level of compliance with hard real-time constraints. This extension offers a real solution for real-time behavior without limiting the use of conventional applications implemented traditionally in a time sharing environment.